Airtight's Creation: Prelude
by L1701E
Summary: One-Shot. Set before "Airtight's Creation". Duke and Airtight have a bit of a conversation.


**Airtight's Creation: Prelude**

 **Disclaimer: All characters belong to their owners.**

 **Author's Note: This story is set before "Airtight's Creation".**

 **Airtight's Lab, the Pit.**

"I've got to remember to thank Trinity again for these components." A man in a yellow uniform with green armored pieces smiled. A wild mop of brown hair topped his head.

 _ **Airtight. Real Name: Sgt. Kurt Schnurr. Birthplace: New Haven, Connecticut. Affiliation: GI Joe, US Army. Primary Military Specialty: CBR (Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Warfare). Secondary Military Specialty: Ordnance.**_

As a child, Kurt Schnurr was often thought of as an "odd" kid, and a bit of a practical joker. Despite this, he was also known for his love of science, which allowed him to eventually become a bit of a scientist in his own right. He joined the Army to help pay for college, which eventually led him to study various forms of hostile environment-based warfare. With those skills, he was a natural fit for the GI Joe team. Schnurr loved being a Joe, as for the first time in his life, he felt he had finally found somewhere he belonged, as the Joes were just as oddball as he was.

After he finished fiddling around with his device, the CBR trooper looked over at a novel on a desk and picked it up. It was a copy of James Clavell's 1975 novel _Shogun_. Airtight had found a copy of it at a consignment shop. He had remembered seeing the TV miniseries a long time ago, and had always wanted to read the original book. His reading it inspired his little creation on the slab, currently covered with a tarp.

"Weren't for this good old book, you wouldn't be here, buddy." Airtight smiled, patting the invention of his under the tarp. "What's better than making a robot? A samurai robot, ha ha." He then heard a buzzing. "Hmm?" The CBR trooper went over to a monitor on the door and turned it on. It showed a blond haired man, his hair cut into a neat style, wearing a khaki jacket with a bandolier on it.

 _ **Duke. Real Name: 1**_ _ **st**_ _ **Sgt. Conrad S. Hauser. Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri. Affiliations: US Army, GI Joe. Primary Military Specialty: Infantry Senior Sergeant. Secondary Military Specialty: Cannon Crew Member, Small Arms/Artillery Repairer.**_

"Hey, Duke!" Airtight greeted.

"Hello, Airtight." Duke answered. "Hey, can I come in there? I want to talk to you about something."

"Yeah, sure. Let me just unlock the door." Airtight answered, shutting off the monitor. He then smirked evilly as he got a flash of inspiration. He found a monster mask hanging on the wall nearby. The messy-haired CBR trooper grabbed the mask, and pressed another button.

 _Click._

"It's unlocked, Duke! Come on in!" Airtight announced over his intercom. He then threw on the mask and hid out of sight as the Joe field commander walked into the room.

"Airtight?" Duke asked. He looked around as he stepped foot in the lab. "Airtight, where are you? You _have_ to be in here." The Joe leapt in front of Duke, his mask on and making a scary pose.

"BOOLAH!" He whooped, making Duke yelp and jump back. Airtight burst out laughing.

"Dammit, Schnurr..." Duke grumbled.

"Sorry about that, sir." Airtight apologized, taking the mask off. "I couldn't resist."

Duke sighed. "Your love of pranks is going to cause some problems one day." He glanced at the tarp. "What is that under there?"

"A little something I have been working on." Airtight explained. "Check it out." He pulled it back slightly.

"A...samurai robot?" Duke blinked in confusion.

"Yes, sir. Cool, huh?"

"Yeah, that's pretty impressive work there, Airtight. But..." The Joe second in command looked at Airtight.

"I got inspired by this!" Airtight held up his copy of _Shogun._

"Okay...what is this for?"

"Honestly..." Airtight frowned, scratching his head. "I have no idea, but maybe we can use it to counter Cobra's BATs."

"Okay, but you _had_ to make it look like a samurai? I get you were inspired by your book there, but you didn't _need_ to make it look like a samurai."

"Yeah, I just thought it would look cool." Airtight shrugged. "Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"We're going to get a couple visitors for a while." Duke explained. "From Jolly ol' England."

"Oh, neat!" Airtight grinned. "I went to England once, when I was a kid. I saw the British Museum in London. You ever see their library? It's incredible! They have so many books there!"

"I'm-I'm sure they do." Duke nodded. "Listen, they're here because Europe is interested in forming their own version of the GI Joe team. They're calling it Action Force or something like that."

"About time, if you ask me." Airtight chuckled. "So, I take it they are coming here to see how we do it, huh?"

"Very much so." Duke nodded. "Although I'm honestly worried we'll end up scaring them off. We Joes do have a bit of a rep, after all..." _And the rise of the Internet sure hasn't helped things..._

"Ah, I'm sure they'll love us, Duke." Airtight laughed with a wave. "Heck, they may turn out to be as odd as us."

"God, I hope not." Duke rolled his eyes. He then eyed the robot Airtight built. "I thought Trinity were the resident robot-makers around here."

"Hey, I was building crazy stuff for this team _before_ that terrific trio came along!" The CBR trooper mock-scoffed. "Speaking of robots, I have to finish that combat robot I was also working on. Finally got that saw blade I ordered in."

" _Combat_ robot?!" Duke blinked. "You mean, like that robot fighting show on TV?"

"Yup!" Airtight nodded. "I owe Trinity a rematch. My new battle robot is going to trounce theirs!"

"Airtight, where do you hold these things?" Duke sighed.

"We rigged a special arena out in the training area." Airtight explained with a smile. "The other Joes love to watch them."

Duke sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I am seriously beginning to wonder if there's just not enough for you Joes to do around here."

"I work fast." Airtight shrugged. "So, tell me about these visitors of ours."

"Well, from what I understand, they're a pair of twins from London."

"Identical like the Starrs, or fraternal like the Maximoffs?"

"Fraternal." Duke explained. "Both Corporals. One was RAF, and the other was Royal Marines. There's also another reason why they wanted them to visit us."

"What's that?" Airtight blinked.

"They're mutants." Duke explained. "They've been given the codenames Bulldog and Lionheart."

Airtight laughed. "Those codenames don't exactly hide where they're from." Duke shrugged.

"They also reflect their powers. Bulldog has an ability to empathically connect with any member of the dog family, and Lionheart can do so with cats. Kind of like what Aquaman can do with fish."

"Oh, that's neat. I know the guy that runs the animal shelter in town would love them." Airtight chuckled. "Oh, and speaking of animals, I have to remember to call Dr. McCoy and see if he can let me look at the X-Men's new pet."

"New...pet?"

"Yeah." Airtight nodded. "Remember when the Misfits came to introduce our two new recruits to the X-Men?"

"Oh God..." Duke groaned.

"Yup." Airtight nodded with a smile. "Evidently, during their visit, Darkstar accidentally created a new form of life."

"Oh, I heard about this." Duke recalled with a shudder. "The kid blasted one of the Pryde girl's infamous muffins with his eye laser, and it somehow caused the muffin to transform into some kind of velociraptor muffin monster-like thing."

"Yup." Airtight nodded. "When I learned about that, I _knew_ I had to see it myself. A new form of life, born of laser and muffin."

"I've heard that Pryde's cooking can cause some _bad_ stomach aches, but creating a new life form is something else."

"Fascinating, isn't it?"

"I consider it more horrifying than fascinating, but to each their own." Duke sighed. "At this point, I'm grateful the muffin didn't evolve its way into becoming some Great Old One-esque being that can drive us insane just by _looking_ at it."

"I dunno..." Airtight smiled, scratching his chin in thought. "That just may happen in the future."

Duke paled at that statement. "Do not even _joke_ about that, Joe!"

"Okay, okay, I am sorry." Airtight grinned. "I have no intention of jinxing us."

"If that muffin thing _does_ evolve into a Lovecraftian monster, I'll know exactly who to blame." Duke grunted. He handed the file folders to Airtight. "Read them." He pointed at Toothy. "And don't let them see that thing."

"Should we hide the spaceship, too?" Airtight asked.

"Oh God, you're right." Duke realized. "Yeah, we'd better find a way to hide that, too."

 _ **Thanks for Reading!**_


End file.
